Tread measuring and cutting machine



Deb-[31 192 9. K g I 1,741,634

TREAD MEASURING AND 'QUTTING MACHINE Filed May 3, 1926 4 Sheets-Shet 1 I:E E5 I :l E

i/wa/d Wa w&

Dec. 31, 1929.

A. R. KRAUSE Filed May 5, 1926 TREAD MEASURING AND CUTTI NG MACHINE 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 31, 1929. A. R. KRAUSE 1,741,634

TREAD KEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE Filed May '3, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 3Dec, 31, 1929. A. KRAusE 1,741,534

TREAD MEASURING AND CUTTING CHINE Filed May 3, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 59i31 HJ 59 55 k Z7 i u m M 24 m n m? m Patented Dec. 31, 1929 LINE-TEDSTATES PATENT QFFIQE ASSIGNOR T GILLETTE RUBBER COMPANY, A CORPORATIONOF WISGOIISZN,

TREAD MEASURING AND CUTTING MACHINE Application filed May 3, 1926.

This invention relates to measuring and severing apparatus adapted tocut predetermined lengths of stock from a continuous length of material.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved automaticmeasuring and cutting mechanism for severing predetermined lengths ofmaterial from long lengths of stock.

It is another object of this invention to provide a measuring wheeladapted: to receive materialin continuous lengths and havingintermittently operating cutting means mounted. in fixed relationshiptothe Wheel to rotate therewith and cut the material to predetermine dlengths.

A further object of this invention is to pro vide animproved machine forcutting adjustable lengths of stock from continuous or long lengths ofmaterial.

Another object of this invention is'to-provide a measuringwheel built upof. radially adjustable segments together with intermittently operatingpress fingers adapted to pre- Vent slipping of the material over saidsegments.

Still another object of this invention is to provide in a device of theclass described an automatic control operating over a limited rangetogether with a manual control adapted to vary the automatic controlrange.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

This invention (in a preferred form) is il lustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

0n the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the features'ofthis invention in operating position to cut off a-length ofstock;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of-Figure 1 taken from the stock feeding sideFig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of the device showing the drivingmechanism and automatic: speed control therefor;

A F ig. 4: is a fragmentary. section showing the drivingmechanismtakenonthe line IV -11V of Figure 2;

Serial No. 186,358.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged plan-view of the reduction gearing andvariable speed friction drivetaken on the line VV of Figure 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectionv on the line VI-VI of Figure 4 showing the manualcontrol of the variable speed, range Fig. 7 is a section on the lineVIIVI-I of Figure 2 showingthe switch mechanism associatedwith the speedcontrolling pulley;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary rear elevation with parts omittedto show thetraversing mecha nism for the tread cutting element;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line IX IX 01 Figure 8;

Fig. 10 isa detail of the cam operating the cutter traversing mechanism;

Fig. 11 is a front. elevation of the cutter mounting and the drivingmechanism therefor; and

Fig. 12 is a detail section showing oneadjustable measuring wheelsegment together with the clamping lever associated therewith.

As shown on the drawings:

The present invention provides an automatically speed controlledmeasuring and cutting mechanism adapted to cut off exact lengths ofstock 15 from a continuous length as manufactured. l/Vhile the device ofthis invention is especially adapted, becauseof its variable speedcontrol, to the continuous measurement and cutting of lengths of stockas a part of theprocessof manufacture; it is equally adapted to cutstock fed from reels and the like, in which case an automaticallyvarying speed control is a desirable but not an essential element. Thespecific embodiment of this invention chosen for illustration comprises.a unitary self-contained mechanism mounted on a post pedestal 16, abracket 17 formingthe support for the device proper and being securedtothe post by a suitable collar 18 forn'ied as part of the support...

A main shaft 19 is journaled' in the bracket 17 and is driven by themotor 20 which drives a shaft 21 carrying a friction wheel 22engaging africtiondisc 23 on a shaft 23 leading to a double reduction gear box 24and thence to the main shaft by the gears 25' and26- as ing the segments47 as desired.

most clearly shown in Figure 5. The drive from the motor 20 to the shaft21 includes the gears 27 and 28, gear 27 engaging the motor shaft bymeans of a clutch 29 operated by a lever 30 pivoted at 31. The oppositeend of this lever carries a link 32 having a lost motion connection to a)iil 33 on the crank 34, the pin 33 also acting on a pivoted lever theother end of which acts to shift the friction wheel 22 across the faceof the friction disc 23 to give varying speed ratios. It will be evidentfrom the above that within the range permitted by the lost motionconnection to the crank 34 and pin 33 act as a speed control; while whenthe lost motion is taken up to the left in Figure 3 the link 32 servesto throw out the clutch and therefore stop the mechanism. The fulcrum 36for the lever 35 is mounted on a threaded shaft 37, the pivot sliding ina slot in the plate 38, a hand wheel 39, serving to rotate the threadedshaft to shift the fulcrum 36 to vary the automatic speed control range.To provide for manual control from the other side of the machine a shaft40 is connected to the shaft 37 by the chain 41 and a second handwheel39 is mounted on the free end of the shaft as shown in Figure 6. Thespeed control is governed by an idler pulley 42 mounted on a swinginglever 43 on the shaft 44, which also carries the crank 34. The idlerpulley rides on the slack or loop of the incoming stock and as this loopis shortened it lifts the pulley 42 acting thereby to shift the frictionwheel outwardly over the friction disc to slow down the movement of themeasuring device carried by the main shaft. The reverse action takesplace upon the 'loop increasing in size so that the machine speeded upto keep it in step with the supply of stock. The lost motion link servesto stop the mechanism upon stoppage of the supply of stock while aswitch 45 is provided in connection with the pulley lever 43 to stop themotor when the slack has been taken up to the limiting amount desired toprevent undue tensioning of the stock.

The mainshaft carries a disc 46 on which is mounted a series of radiallymovable peripheral segments 47 bolted through radial slots 43. A seconddisc 73 with inclined or spiral slots 74 for pins 75 attached to thesegments 47 serves to provide for simultaneous and equal adjustments ofthe segments, a curved rack 76 on the disc 73 meshing with a pinion 77on a disc 78 secured to the disc 46, manual rotation of the pinionserving to shift the disc 73 relative to the disc 46 and thereby shift-The rack and pinion are desirable but not essential elements as theyprovide for more accurate and convenient adjustment of the size of themeasuring segments.

One segment of the circle is replaced by a bracket 59 forming a shearblade over which slides a carriage 51 carrying a motor 52 drii ing acircular cutting knife 53 by means of the gearing 54. The motor isintermittently energized through the contact members 55 and contactblock 56 as the measuring wheel revolves to bring the cutter intovertical position. The cutter carriage 51 is traversed over the shear.or bracket 50 by means of a grooved cam 57 fixed on the bracket 17about the main shaft, a cam follower 58 on the disc engaging the cam andhaving rack teeth engaginga gear 59 attached to a larger gear 60 whichacts on the carriage. I

Rubber and some other materials are more easily out if a lubricant issupplied to the cutting edge, so that a hopper 61 is secured to thecutter carriage and a stationary fount or inverted bottle 62 is mountedover the machine with a contact valve 63 adapt-ed to be opened by atappet 64 carried by the carriage.

Each segment of the wheel is provided with a hinged presser foot 65 forholding the material thereagainst, the foot being hinged to the edge ofthe segment and operated by the lever 66 pivoted at 67 to the segmentplate to be unaffected by the adjustment thereof. The inner end of thelever 66 carries a roller 68 engaging under a face cam 69 to depressthat end of the lever and open the presser foot and engaging overanother cam 70 to lift the roller to apply the presser foot. The twocams 69 and 7 0 are so arranged that the presser feet engage thematerial on the. segments only when on the upper part of the wheel,dropping free from the segments as they swing underneath during therevolution of the wheel to release the material.

A cam 71 is formed on the main shaft for operating a counting mechanism72 for recording the revolutions of the wheel and hence the number ofpieces cut.

The operation of the device is as follows: i

The perimeter of the measuring drum segments 47 including the edge ofthe shear bracket 50 is first adjusted to produce the desired treadlength by shifting the second disc 73 by means of the rack 76 and pinion77, the spiral slots 74 in the disc 73 moving the segments 47 in or outby means of the bolts or pins 75 sliding in the radial slots in the disc46. Then the end of the material to be cut is initially engaged underone of the presser feet 65, which holds it against the correspondingsegment 47 while the wheel as a whole rotates to draw the material ontothe segments. As the wheel revolves clockwise, the material. is pickedup by the shear bracket and overlies the same so that when the wheelreaches the position shown in Figure 1, the cutter traversing mechanismis actuated by means of the grooved cam 57, cam follower 5S actuatingthe carriage 51 by means of the gears 59 and 61, at the same time as thecutter motor 52 is energized b y the contact members 55 engaging in theContact block 56.

As the wheel continues to rotate, the severed length of material isallowed to drop because of the withdrawal of the presser' foot of eachsegment 47 as it passes below the horizontal axis of the wheel ashereinbefore described. At the same time, more material is being drawnonto and wrapped upon the wheel by its rotation.

The speed of rotation is governed by the idler pulley 42 riding in theslack of the material, which is lifted if the wheel rotates faster thanthe stock or material is fed thereto. The lifting effect on the pulleyis transmitted through the lever 4C3 through the crank 34 to thefriction wheel shifting lever 35 to alter the position of the wheel 22relative to the friction wheel 23, thus varying the driving speed of thegearing leading to the measuring wheel or main shaft 19. An extreme liftof the pulley also throws out the clutch 29 by the crank 34 engaging thelost motion slot in the linlr 32 operating the clutch lever 30.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a Wide range without departing fromthe spirit of this invention and I therefore do not purpose limiting thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:'

1. A stock measuring and cutting mechanism comprising a rotatingdrum, atraversing cutter mechanism mounted to rotate with the drum and to moveacross the outer periphery of the drum, and means for actuating thecutter mechanism at predetermined points in the revolution of the drum.7

2. A stock measuring and cutting mechanism comprising a rotating drum,means for adjusting the perimeter of the drum to measure different lenths of stock, a traversing cutter mechanism mounted to rotate with thedrum and means for actuating the cutter mechanism at predeterminedpoints in the revolution of the drum.

A stock measuring and cutting mech anism comprising a rotating drum,fingers intermittently clamping the stock to said drum, means foroperating said fingers at predetermined positions, cutter mechanism forcutting said stock on said drum, and means for actuating the cuttermechanism at predetermined points in the revolution of the drum.

4. A stock measuring and cutting mechanism comprising a rotating drum, atraversing cutter mechanism mounted to rotate with the drum, means foractuating the cutter mechanism at predetermined points in the revolutionof the drum, means for adjusting the perimeter of the drum to measuredifferent lengths of stock, fingers intermittently clamping the stock tosaid drum, and means to actuate said fingers at predetermined positions.

5. In a device of thecl-ass described a rotating drum, a cutter rotatingtherewith means for traversing the cutter acrossthe drum atpredetermined intervals, lingers intermittently clamping the stock tosaid drum, and cams adapted to actuate said fingers at predeterminedpositions.

6. In a device of the class described a rotating drum, a cutter rotatingtherewith means for traversing the cutter across the drum atpredetermined intervals, means for adjusting the perimeter of the drumto measure different lengths of stock, fingers intermittently clampingthe stock to said drum, and cams adapted to actuate said fingers atpredetermined positions.

7. In a device of the class described an adjustable diameter measuringdrum, a rotary cutter and traversing mechanism therefor mounted in afixed position on said drum,

and means for intermittently rotating said cutter during the traversingmotion thereof.

8. In a device of the class described a measuring drum, a shear bladesecured in fixed relation to said drum, a cutter and means fortraversing said cutter over said shear blade at a predetermined positionof the meas uring drum.

9. In a device of theclass described a measuring drum, a shear bladesecured in fixed relation to said drum, a cutter, means for traversingsaid cutter over said shear blade at a predeterminedposition of themeasuring drum, a motor for driving said cutter, and intermitten lyengageable contacts adapted to cause operation of said motor during thecutting period.

10. In a device of the class described a measuring drum, a. shear bladesecured in fixed relation to said drum, a cutter, means for traversingsaid cutter over said shear blade at a predetermined position of themeasuring drum, and means for supplying cutting fluid to said cutteronly during the cutting period.

11. In a device of the class described a measuring drum, a shear bladesecured in red relation to said drum, a cutter, means for traversingsaid cutter over said shear blade at a predetermined position 01 themeasuring drum, a motor for driving said cutter, and electric contactsadapted to cause operation of said motor only during the cutting period,and means for supplying cutting fluid to said cutter during the cuttingperiod.

12. In a device of the class described an adjustable perimeter wheelcomprising radially movable segments, stock clamping arms mounted onsaid segments, and stationary cams adapted to apply and release saidarms whereby the stock will hold on said wheel at predetermined pointsin the revolution thereof.

13. In a device of the class described an adjustable perimeter wheelcomprising ra dially movable segment-s, stock clamping arms mounted onsaid segments, and stationary cams adapted to apply and release saidarms, and means for severing said stock While clamped on said Wheelsegments.

14. In a device of the class described, a drum arranged to receive asubstantially continuous length of strip stock, and means forintermittently cutting the stock fed onto said drum into given len ths,said drum having an expansible rim arranged to be adjusted to vary thelength of the strip cut by said cutting means.

15. In a device of the class described, a rotatable drum arranged toreceive a substantially continuous strip of stock material on its outerperiphery, means for cutting the stock on said drum into given lengths,means for automatically varying the speed at which the drum is rotatedin proportion to the rate at Which the strip stock is fed to the drum soas to enable the strips cut to all be substantially of the same length,and means for manually varying the circumference of said drum so as tovary the l ngth of the strips cut thereon.

16. In a device of the class described, a drum arranged to receive asubstantially continuous length of strip stock, a cutter for cutting thestock on said drum into predetermined lengths, and means forreciprocating said cutter transversely across the outer periphery of thedrum comprising a ram; operable by the rotation of said drum tointermittently reciprocate said cutter.

17. In a device of the class described, a drum arranged to receive asubstantially continuous length of strip stock, a cutter for cutting thestock on said drum into predetermined lengths, and means forreciprocatingsaid cutter transversely across the periphery of the drumcomprising a cam rotatable with said drum and a rack intermittentlyreciprocable by said cam for reciprocating said out ter.

18. In a device of the class described, a drum arranged to receive asubstantiallycontinuous length of strip stock, a cutter for cutting thestock on said drum into predetermined lengths, means for reciprocatingsaid cutter transversely across the periphery of said drum, means forrotating said cutter, and means operable and controlled by said rotatingdrum for intermittently operating said means for rotating the cutter.

19. In a device of the class described, a drum arranged to receive asubstantially continuous length of strip stock, adjustable segmentsmounted on said drum and arranged to vary the length of stock which maybe applied to the drum and means for intermittently cutting the stock onsaid drum.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ARNOLD R. KRAUSE.

